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Remove the G5 metal cover from the processing/cooling unit of the computer. NOTE: Apple inserted a rather fragile plastic pin that inserts through the top divider shield and clips into a tab on the hidden ledge of this CPU shield. Removing this pin, certainly voided Mac's warranty - but more appropriate for now, voids most after-market insurance plans. A replacement pin (new) is hard to get ahold of, and very few are talented and patient enough to remove this pin without damaging it. Just something to keep in mind. If you have no warranty any longer or don't care, please continue...

Pull the metal plate to the left and outward to remove the plate from the processing/cooling unit.

The whole pin assembly acts like a miniature toggle bolt. The inner part of the pin assembly is actually a short stubby cylinder. When the pin is inserted into the sleeve, it presses on the sleeve and expands it slightly in the processor shield, locking it to the top divider shield.

I took a tiny drill bit and spun it into the center of the pin just enough so that I could insert a small sharp screw (I used a cup hook) into the pin. All it needed was just a slight tug, and the pin came out of the outer locking sleeve. I used the same screw to remove the outer sleeve.

I was able to push the bottom part of the shield to the left and unhook the bottom first. I then took a long wooden skewer (18" long) and pushed the center pin out. I then took a pair of needle nose pliers and gripped the two flared ends of the outer sleeve and squeezed them together and pushed the sleeve out of the hole. It was actually pretty easy this way and there was no damage to the pin or the sleeve.

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Unplug the fan's power cable from the upper rightmost corner of the motherboard (connection J45). If there is a video card in place, carefully pull the cable plug down between the back edge of the video card and the motherboard. Note, the photo shows the unplugged cable and the area it plugs into outlined in yellow. No video card is shown in this photo.